Improved joints for railroad-bars



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

sAMUnL M. LoNeLEY, or HoDsois,.Nnw Yoeri.

IMPROVED JOINTS FOR RAILROAD-BARS.

Specification fbrining part of Letters Patent No. 58,849, dated October'1G, 1866.

To all 'whom it may conce/rn Be it known that I, SAMUEL M. LONGLEY, ot'Hudson, in the county of Columbia and State ot New York, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement in Joints for Railroad-Bars, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, forming part oi" this specitication,and in which- Figure l represents a plan of two contiguous lengths ofrail in part, with their chair, intermediate connecting-piece, andfasteningkeys; Fig. 2, a vertical section in direction of the length ot'the rails and through the latter; Fig. 3, a transverse section throughthe line .fr ft' in Fig. l; Fig. 4, an end view ot' the chair; and Fig.5, a view in perspective of' the connecting-rail section detached.

Like letters ret'er to like parts in all the iignres.

The nature ot' my invention consists in the interposition in the chair,between the ends of the rails, ot' a short rail section or connection oipeculiar construction, and the chair which receives it and the ends` ofthe rails of corresponding construction, whereby, while the usual amountot' space at the joint is left for contraction and expansion ot' therails, said space is divided or distributed, so as to reduce the gap orbreak at any one point, with every facility for removing theconnecting'section when it is required to take out and replace orsubstitute a rail, and whereby the keys which hold the rails servelikewise to secure the connectingsection and are more elt'ectuall yrestrained frein working loose in the longitudinal movement of therails, also the latter, that maybe in lap-gear with theconnectingsection, protected against being battered at their ends andthe junction of the rails with the chair7 and, through the interveningsection, with eachother, generally improved.

For the information of others whom it may concern I proceed to describemy invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The rails or rail-lengths A A may be ofthe usual T form. B is one of thechairs into which the ends of the rails A A t, but only project so fartherein as to admit in between them, with room for expansion, the body cot' a short rail section or connection, C, which, .when in its place,forms a continuation ofthe rail-surface.

The recess in the chair is enlarged where the body t iits, so that thelatter is not only bound at its sides, but ends also, by the chair, andso that the railconnection C may beinserted and removed vertically. Saidbody c has keyways b b through it on either side, tapering in oppositedirections to each other, to admit ot' the keys c c, which serve totighten up the ails in the chair on opposite sides, also tightening upor holding the railconnec tion C.

The keys c e, on being driven home, thus bear not only against the sidesot' the rails and chair, but also against the latter and body ot' therail-connection G. The ends ot' the rails may be cut away, as at d d, toreceive the overlapping ends of said rail-connection.

From this description it will be seen that on taking out the keys c cand removing the `rail-section C every facility is afforded for takingout the rails when it is necessary to repair or replace them by others;but the main use of the rail-section C is' that by being arrangedbetween the ends of contiguous rails it serves, by dividing the gap orbreak, to re duce by one-halt' the space at a single point necessary tobe left for the contraction and expansion of the rails, as compared witharrangements having no such interposing piece, but giving the same roomfor contraction and expansion as thelatter. ln thus reducing the gap ata single point there is less injury to the rails and rollingstock, andtraveling over a line so constructed is made smoother or freer fromjolts.

Furthermore, by the rail section or connection O being bound in thechair, as described, and the same keys which tighten the rails in thechair being wedged up between said rail connection and the chair,longitudinal movement of the rails, by whatever cause it is produced,will not loosen the keys from their places, while by such mode offastening, in conjunction with the lap of the rail-section on the ails,the ends ofthe latter are more fully protected from being battered orinjured by the action of the rolling-stock, and strain dil rails A A,reduced :it their ends, the whole bevided or Communicated from onelength of rail ing united by keys o c, and constructed and to the next.arranged to establish the joint, substantially What I claim as myinvention, Iand degire :is shown and described.

to secure by Letters Patent, s- S. 1V. LONGLEY.

The rail section or connection C, having Witnesses: keyways I) b, andoverlapping the mils at A. LE CLERC,

theil` top, in combination with the chair B and l J. W. Comms.

